1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer which sprays ink through the nozzle onto the paper for printing according to printing signals, and more particularly to a nozzle orifice protective apparatus for protecting the nozzle orifice from air and preventing ink in the nozzle from drying and solidifying while the printer is turned off for transportation or storage or while the printer is long out of service with power on.
More specifically, the invention relates to an ink jet printer which is equipped with a cap for covering the nozzle to prevent clogging, the cap being supplied with maintenance solution to protect ink in the nozzle from dryness and solidification.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ink spray nozzle of an ink jet printer is exposed to the atmosphere when the printer is not used. Ink in the nozzle therefore dries and solidifies, causing the clogged nozzle. Solidification of ink can also occur during transportation or storage of the printer.
To prevent the clogging, the conventional ink jet printer is equipped with a cap member for covering the nozzle face when the printer is turned off or long out of service with power on so that ink in the nozzle may not be dried and solidified.
The present engineering group has proposed a nozzle protective apparatus in the Japanese Patent Application No. SHO60-27397. According to this application, the nozzle is protected by the cap member filled with maintenance solution composed of solvent such as water or antimold agent so that ink in the nozzle does not solidify while the printer is not used. The maintenance solution is collected from the cap member into a waste tank when printing operation is started.
The corresponding U.S. patent application "INK JET PRINTER NOZZLE CLOG PREVENTIVE APPARATUS" Ser. No. 828,889 was filed Feb. 13, 1986 by Fusao IWAGAMI and Minoru SAKAMA, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,718 and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. The German counterpart was filed Feb. 12, 1986 and assigned an Application No. P36 04 373.7.
The proposed apparatus is not provided for disposal of waste maintenance solution collected from the apparatus, and therefore presents problems as to waste maintenance solution handling and disposal.